Census for Donaldson's School for Deaf Children Edinburgh

[drummerchick]

Hi, I am trying to research pupils who went to Donaldson's School for Deaf Children in Edinburgh. I do'n have many names but I seem to be coming up a brick wall when I go on Scotland's People Census info, the form wants names and I am unable to put in the name of the school to get a list of who was there at census time.

Is there a way, (online) where I can type in the name of the school and which census year, that will give me lists of names of the pupils, staff etc?
I think the address was West Coates Edinburgh.

Thanks

Jennifer

[nelmit]

Hi, I am trying to research pupils who went to Donaldson's School for Deaf Children in Edinburgh. I do'n have many names but I seem to be coming up a brick wall when I go on Scotland's People Census info, the form wants names and I am unable to put in the name of the school to get a list of who was there at census time.

Is there a way, (online) where I can type in the name of the school and which census year, that will give me lists of names of the pupils, staff etc?
I think the address was West Coates Edinburgh.

Thanks

Jennifer

You could follow this up by using the matron's name on Scotlands People as this page just shows the staff. The original page at SP will be followed on by the pupils hopefully. I found this on Ancestry by searching the 1901 census for Midlothian with a keyword deaf.

Registration district: St George
Civil Parish: Edinburgh West Coates
County: Midlothian
Address: West Coates
Occupation: Matron Of Justitution (as transcribed)
ED: Donaldsons Hospital

Georgina Margaret Cunningham 67
Alice Talbot 47
Margaret Bruce 63
Mary Wilson Neilson Wilson 22
Jean Wightman Beveridge 22
Helen Barr Imrie 26
William Mcdougall 35
Henry Albert Dowie 31
Ernest Ayliffe 28
Charles William Mcmillan 27
Thomas Scott 21
John Macdonald 28
John Amos Stephenson 47
Kenneth Mclennan 53

A quick search shows she was the Matron there in 1871, 1881 and 1891 too.

Regards,
Annette

[AndrewP]

Hi Jennifer,

Yes, there is a way, using the 'advanced search' on the ScotlandsPeople website. The vital piece of information that you need is the enumeration district number (different for the different census years). I have done some close research on the censuses in Edinburgh, and can give you the census enumeration district numbers for the 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses.

The school was founded in 1851, before the census date.

Enumeration districts:
1851 :: Edinburgh, St Cuthberts, enumeration district 190
1861 :: Edinburgh, St George, enumeration district 116
1871 :: Edinburgh, St George, enumeration district 116
1881 :: Edinburgh, St George, enumeration district 129

So, go to http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and go to the 1851 census search. leave the name fields empty. Select county: Edinburgh City, district: St Cuthbert. Then click on SHOW ADVANCED (above the surname field). In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 190 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 146 results.

Repeat for 1861, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 116 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 204 results.

Repeat for 1871, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 116 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 240 results.

Repeat for 1881, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 129 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 237 results.

In some of these census results, you will find that some of the children appear listed only by their initials, rather than their names.

All the best,

AndrewP

[AndrewP]

Hi Jennifer,

Using the names given by Annette above, the following will work for 1891.

Repeat for 1891, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 140 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 245 results.

All the best,

AndrewP

[AndrewP]

Hi Jennifer,

Using Henry Albert Dowie from Annette's example above, he remained on the staff at Donaldson's School through the censuses of 1891, 1901 and 1911.

Repeat for 1901, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 186 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 247 results.

Repeat for 1911, county: Edinburgh City, district: St George. In the filter search results box, put in enumdist: 79 , then click on the DO THE SEARCH button. That should find you 272 results.

All the best,

AndrewP